Deputies rescue man stranded on buoy in Florida’s Tampa Bay

June 6, 2018

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Deputies say a man they found stranded on a buoy in Florida’s Tampa Bay had jumped out of his friend’s boat when its battery died and he became nervous.

Video from a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office helicopter shows divers rescuing the man Sunday night roughly 3 miles (6 kilometers) north of Beer Can Island. The sheriff’s office tells news outlets the man didn’t know how to swim and wasn’t wearing a life jacket.

Deputies say in a statement the man’s friend had called 911 to report that he’d leapt from the boat and climbed the buoy.